The invention relates to a vehicle roof having a cover, which at its front edge is displaceably guided in lateral guide rails extending below the roof surface, and which is additionally supported at the guide rails by lifting levers, which are connected at one end with the corresponding guide rails, and at the other end with the cover. During displacement of the cover in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the levers pivot and slide as a result of interaction with a roof-mounted retaining bracket, so that the cover can selectively be (1) brought into a closed position; (2) extended above the roof surface into a vent position by a pivoting movement around an axis which is disposed at or near its front edge; or (3) rearwardly retracted above the fixed roof surface.
In a known vehicle roof of this kind (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 35 04 573 in combination with German Offenlegungsschrift No. 33 43 902), the cover is pivotably supported in the front at each side, at a slide shoe which can be coupled with a drive cable by means of a follower assembly determining a free path. One end of a lifting lever is pivotably connected to a slider which is connected with a locking lug via a biased support arm. This lug is coupled with the movable part of the drive cable by means of an additional follower assembly. Once the cover reaches a pivot position which corresponds to its open end position, the coupling between the slider and the drive cable is released, and the lug slides into a recess of the guide rail. To bring the cover into the vent position, starting from the closed position, the slider, coupled with the drive cable, is pulled forwardly, while the slide shoe is uncoupled from the drive cable. When the cover is to be retracted, it is necessary to initially bring it into the closed position, whereupon the slider and slide shoe are coupled with the drive cable, and are simultaneously slid rearwardly, until after a certain distance, the slider is uncoupled from the drive cable, and the slide shoe only is taken along further rearwardly. In this conventional arrangement, the coupling and locking elements for the coupling and uncoupling of the drive cables at the slide shoe and slider are susceptible to malfunctions and produce rattling noises during travel. Furthermore, the stability of the resulting vehicle roof leaves much to be desired. Comparable to these known arrangements also is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,165.